Sustainability of Three Recreational Forest Landscape ...

1 Journal of Design and Built Environment Vol. 14 (2), December 2014 Mohd Kher, H.

Sustainability of Three Recreational Forest Landscape

Management in Selangor, Malaysia

Mohd Kher Hussein12 1Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Design and Architecture, Universiti Putra Malaysia,

Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. 2Faculty of Landscape Architecture, Corvinus University of Budapest, Villanyi ut 35-43. P.O.B. 53. H-

1118 Budapest, Hungary.

[email protected]/ [email protected]

Different stakeholders managed recreational forests in Selangor, Malaysia. These

stakeholders’ involvements have risen a question whether their development have fulfilled the

sustainable landscape requirement. The aim of this study was to understand and generate more

comprehensive knowledge on the recreational forest landscape management towards forest

sustainability. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the management of recreational

forest in Selangor, Malaysia that affect landscape sustainability and to gain an overview of

recreational forest landscape development in Peninsular Malaysia. The study applies three

methods. First is the analysis of documents relating to sustainable landscape concept.

Secondly, through case studies where three recreational forest sites in Selangor were selected

to analyze their management practices towards landscape sustainability. Thirdly, field

observations were carried out to collect data about existing physical conditions of the study

sites. The results revealed that landscape management of these recreational forests were not in

accordance with landscape sustainability approaches and needs improvement. This was caused

by improper planning, low understanding among the staffs regarding sustainable landscape

management, shortage of knowledgeable personnel, and poor supervision. Failure to adopt and

implement sustainable landscape practices which include environment protection, social

improvements, good governance, aesthetics enhancement, economy benefits, and harmonized

designs can lead to the increase in the “abandon syndrome” of some recreational forest sites in

Peninsular Malaysia.

Keywords: sustainable landscape management, landscape architecture, landscape

management, recreational forest.

1. INTRODUCTION

From a landscape perspective, sustainable

landscape refers to the role of landscape in

sustainable development and to the sustainable

protection, management, and/or planning of

landscapes (Selman, 2008). In landscape

architecture and planning, there is a professional

subculture that interprets sustainability in terms

of low-impact design (Dunnett & Clayden 2007).

Selman (2008) divides sustainable landscape into

two aspects. First is the design and scenic assets

protection and second, the relationship between

ecosystem services and human well-being. This

means that in sustainable landscape development

there is a need to focus on restoration,

preservation, conservation, protection of natural

systems, maintaining natural function and

environmental quality in developing a forest area

(Schutzki & Tripp, 2007).

Sustainable landscape development also

requires reconciling society’s development goals

with the capacities of landscape systems to

deliver ecosystem services over long-term (Clark

& Dickson, 2003; Kates et al., 2001; NRC,

1999). Landscape systems are complex,

adaptive, and tightly coupled social-ecological

systems (GLP, 2005). Therefore, continuously

sustainable states of landscapes are unlikely and

efforts for supporting sustainable landscape

development should always aim at making

progress on a transition towards sustainability

(NRC, 1999).Sustainable landscape development

is generally considered right at the inter-section

of environment, economy, and society. It is also

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further influenced by two other dimensions

which are governance and aesthetic sustainability

(Selman, 2008).

There are six factors affecting landscape

sustainability of recreational forests. The first

one deals with landscape ecology of spatial

patterns and processes (Farina, 2006; Selman,

2008). This is commonly referred to as the

green infrastructure which involves biodiversity

network of habitat patches and corridors in

maintaining healthy and practical populations

(Selman, 2008). It also refers to soil and nutrient

conservation, water quality, hydrology systems

and vegetation’s (Haines-Young et al., 2006). A

proper recreational forest landscape planning

(especially in terms of human made landscape

elements) is necessary because landscape is an

ecological entity that is dynamic and changes

according to situation and disturbance (Ismail &

Mohd Sarofil, 2005). Human activities

frequently cause impact to the environment

causing resulting environmental destruction and

creating unhealthy environment to living things.

Secondly, sustainable recreational forest

landscape relates to the economy. This relates to

benefits such as recreational activities that makes

certain places interesting and haves values to the

public (Powell et al., 2002; Selman 2008; Vollet

et al., 2008). Those economic benefits should

also bring benefits to local people to improve

their quality of life. Furthermore, Jamieson and

Noble (2000) claimed that recreational forest

development should provide job opportunity,

reducing poverty and cut social inequality and

increase social services to the local community.

Thus, a proper and systematic recreational forest

landscape development needs to take into

account local community economic enhancement

to make sure the sustainable use of recreational

forest.

Thirdly, sustainable recreational forest

landscape is also related to the needs of local

populations. For generations, parks including

recreational forests have played important roles

for people, and contributed to social and cultural

aspects of their lives (Osman, 2005; Nicol &

Blake, 2000). Parks also provide a powerful

setting for “social” (Collins et al., 2007) and

“sustainability” learning (Tabara & Pahl-Wostl

2007). Thus, local participation in recreational

forest landscape plans and design process is

necessary. This is to ensure their requirements

are met and to avoid injustice in decision-making

as well as to get their full support (Botes &

Rensburg, 2000). Buchecker et al. (2003) argued

that local participation exercises in planning and

landscape design process of recreational forest

landscape need to be improved to increase their

understanding on landscape sustainability.

Unfortunately, in Malaysia, there are still many

local participation exercises that do not take into

account people’s real opinions and their needs.

This is because when authority organized local

participatory exercises, it only involves the

authority giving information to the public but not

really getting any real feedback from them

(Ahmad, 2001 as cited in Mohd Yazid, 2009).

A fourth factor is good governance. This is

closely related with political sustainability and

requires effective governance structures, for both

the private and public domains (Selman, 2008).

Good governance also requires a stable

governance to ensure that landscape

development requirements are being

implemented according to the strategy with high

integrity and intentness (Hamilton & Selman,

2005). Good governance is important at all levels

i.e., from international to local levels. However,

it is particularly important at the local level,

where numerous high-level decisions can be

implemented, ignored or even contradicted

(Rametsteiner 2007). Szerletics (2011)

highlighted the characteristic of good governance

as follows:

(1) Transparency – decisions taken and

their enforcement are done in a manner

that follows rules and regulations. It

also means that information is freely

available and directly accessible to

those who will be affected by such

decisions and their enforcement.

(2) Responsibility and accountability – the

decision-makers in the government,

private sector and civil society are

accountable to the public and/or to their

institutional stakeholders.

(3) Participation – the public can

participate (either directly or through

representatives) in the decision-making

and the implementation of public

projects or other government activities.

(4) Responsiveness to the needs of people –

good governance requires that

institutions try to serve all stakeholders

within a reasonable timeframe.

(5) Effectiveness – processes and

institutions produce results that meet the


needs of society while making the best

use of resources at their disposal.

(6) Equity and inclusiveness – this principle

requires that all groups, but particularly

the most vulnerable, have opportunities

to improve or maintain their well-being.

(7) Rule of law – this principle requires fair

legal frameworks that are enforced

impartially.

(8) Consensus oriented – good governance

requires mediation of the different

interests in society to reach consensus.

Clearly, good governance of recreational

forest needs transparency, accountability,

regulatory reform, skills, cooperation, leadership

and public participation in their implementation

process. The author believes that good

governance actually is very important in creating

a responsible and conducive recreational forest

environment. This is especially in their

implementation and management.

The fifth factor is related to landscape

aesthetic values. Aesthetic value has influence

people to react towards recreational forest

landscapes based on their experiences in

proximity of the landscape (Gobster et al., 2007).

This is because people try to value or perceive

recreational forest landscape through aesthetical

values such as to what they observe and to how

the landscape is being managed. Selman (2008)

claim that landscapes have varying degrees of

legibility that betray underlying narratives and

the extent to which we appreciate or denigrate a

landscape is closely related to the way people are

taught to “read” it. Apart from that, landscape

aesthetic also has a close relationship with

ecology that gives impact to planning, design

and management of natural sites (Gobster et al.,

2007). An exploration on how people appreciate

recreational forest landscape could be explored

to understand how people aesthetically value

landscapes (Gobster, 2008).

The sixth recreational forest landscape

sustainability factor is the design aspect. The

design of sustainable recreational forests must be

in harmony with natural forest landscapes. It

should take into account their own unique

features that highlight the forest identity and act

as a tourism product besides being sites of

recreational activities (Jacobs, 1993). The design

also must have good combinations between the

natural environment and architectural aspects

such as application of vernacular architecture

(Schmid, 1983). Design of hardscape structures

(e.g. pedestrian path, signage, shelter, etc.) as

well as buildings, must be visually in harmony

with the surrounding natural environment

(Schneider, 1981). Forests with high

panoramic values should have buildings with

good style that is in harmony and did not

contradict the existing environment (Doczi,

1994). Design of buildings and other structures

should depend on climate, temperature, light and

color (Stouter, 2008). These factors must be

seriously considered during the design process.

Ceballos-Lascurain (1996) and Walter (1987)

suggested that the most important consideration

is that the structure and building designs in

recreational forest must highlight aspects of the

surroundings.

2. AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE

STUDY

The aim of this study was to understand and

generate more comprehensive knowledge on the

recreational forest landscape management

towards forest sustainability. The objectives of

this study are to evaluate the recreational forest

management in Selangor, Malaysia that affect

landscape sustainability and to gain an overview

of recreational forest landscape development in

Peninsular Malaysia.

3. METHODOLOGY

This study applied three methods. The first is the

document analysis of relevant literature where

the author analyzed the topic of sustainable

landscape concept to understand the topic and to

find out what has been done by other researchers

on recreational forest landscape sustainability.

Peer-reviewed literature and best practice

guidelines were also included in the study. Even

though the best practice in sustainable landscape

does not appear in peer-reviewed journals, they

are based on experiences and practical

knowledge of the experts in forest park

management that is being considered important.

Secondly, the study involved a case study

where three recreational forest sites in Selangor

State, Malaysia were selected. These were

Sungai Tekala Recreational Forest, Sungai

Chongkak Recreational Forest and Templer

Recreational Forest. Case studies were used in

this study because this method is applicable to

real-life, contemporary, human situations. Case

study results also relate directly to the common


reader’s everyday experiences and make easy to

understanding the complex real-life situations

(Soy, 1997).

Thirdly, field observations were carried out

to collect data about existing physical condition

of the study sites. Field observations were

carried out in detail, free from bias, and care was

taken to ensure the information gathered were

original and reliable (Lee, 1976; Mohd Kher,

2012). Photographs were taken during field

observations as evidences of visual assessment

regarding current status of landscape

management works on the study sites.

Recreational forests in Selangor were

selected for this study because Selangor is the

fastest developed states in Malaysia and forest

recreations have a high demand from the public.

The rate of urbanization in this State is expected

to increase significantly mainly due to migration

of people from surrounding states, as well as the

influx of foreign workforce. This has resulted in

conflicts between urbanization and forest

reserve. Moreover, Selangor has the highest

population in the Klang Valley that has put

pressure to their forest as well as recreational

forest for land use (e.g. housing development

and industrialization). This presents a challenge

for recreational forest landscape development

and management strategy in ensuring their forest

are not affected by those development and being

managed in a sustainable way. Selected study

sites are also easily accessible by the public and

this posed challenges to the forest authority

name the Selangor Forest Department seeking to

improve the landscape including existing

facilities.

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Currently, there are ten (10) recreational forest

sites in Selangor managed by different

stakeholders: Selangor Forestry Department

(SFD), Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) and

Tourism Selangor Sendirian Berhad (TSSB)

(Table 1). Different stakeholders involvement

have resulted to more development focused been

given on getting revenue and profits for

managing the site. SFD and MPS are the

stakeholders that have motivated towards

conservation, while TSSB seemingly geared to

profit stakeholder. Indirectly, this phenomenon is

not in line with the main goal for recreational

forest establishment to increase awareness

among the public towards forest functions in

daily life and sustainable use of natural forest

resources in Malaysia.

In general, the three study sites have very

similar characteristics in terms of accessibility,

layout, and man-made elements, particularly the

buildings. However, each study site has their

own uniqueness and there are being determined

by their topography, either hilly or otherwise,

waterfall and history. Two of the study sites are

generally well-preserved in terms of forest

originality. Templer Recreational Forest,

however, is under threat due to rapid

development in the surrounding areas such as

housing development, road constructions and

golf course.

Table 1: Recreational Forest in State of Selangor,

Malaysia

Recreational Forest Manage

By

Gunung Nuang, Hulu Langat SFD

Sungai Tekala, Hulu Langat SFD

Sungai Tua, Ulu Yam SFD

Sungai Chongkak , Hulu

Langat

TSSB

Sungai Sendat, Rawang SFD

Kanching, Rawang TSSB

Templer , Rawang MPS

Ampang SFD

Komanwel SFD

Hulu Perdil SFD

(Source: Forestry Department Peninsular

Malaysia 2007)

4.1 SUNGAI TEKALA RECREATIONAL

FOREST

Sungai Tekala Recreational Forest is located in

Hulu Langat district (coordinates 03o 03'62 "N

101o 52'13" E). This park is part of the Sungai

Lalang Forest Reserve consisting of lowland

Dipterocarp Forest type. The Selangor Forestry

Department (SFD) developed this park in 1982

and it was opened to the public in the same year.

This recreational area is approximately 2,062

hectares. SFD still managed this area until today.

This park is intended to be developed as a

recreational area and for environmental

educational purposes. The park charges an

entrance fee of MYR1 (USD 30 cents) for adults

and MYR0.50 (USD 15 cents) for children 12

years and below.


From an ecological aspect, its sustainability

is being threatened because the landscape

development of this site was implemented

without a proper landscape master plan. The

development was carried out on an ad hoc and in

situ basis depending on visitors suggestions of

what facilities were required by them. Others

were provided by the Department regardless of

whether they were actually needed or not, or

whether they were suitable for the locations and

have adverse impacts on the surrounding forests.

Failure of the management to control the number

at one point in time has caused overuse of the

forest park and led to soil compaction impacting

existing vegetation. Urgent solutions need to be

carried out by the management to ensure future

park ecological sustainability.

It was also observed that facilities were not

designed in harmony with the surrounding

environment and lacks the forest identity. Most

of their designs seem to be similar to those of

urban parks (Figure 1). If this continues, it can

result in failure to achieve its sustainable

development goal. In terms of architectural

designs, it portrays local traditional Malay

architecture (Figure 2). This is evidenced in the

typical roof design and materials used (wood and

clay bricks). The color schemes chosen are those

of green and chocolate inducing “cool” and

“peaceful” response in visitors (Brenda &

Robert, 1996). Those colors are suitable for

forest environment and can influence user

comfort (Arwed 1992). Enhancing local

indigenous design, materials and natural colors is

a good step taken to indicate local environmental

influences (Ceballos-Lascurain 1996; Walter

1987).

Figure 1: Some of the forest recreation designs similar to urban park designs in Sungai Tekala Recreational

Forest.

Figure 2: Enhancing Malay architecture to show local culture and in line with ecotourism concept.

Figure 3: Poor maintenance causing damaged and unusable structures and equipment in Sungai Tekala

Recreational Forest.


The management paid special attention to

site cleanliness such as regular rubbish

collection, sweeping dry/fallen leafs along

pathways, toilets cleaning and waste disposal.

However, maintenance work for human made

landscape elements such as shelters, benches,

rubbish bins, bridges, signage and pergola, were

not promptly carried out whenever required.

This attitude has resulted in some structures and

equipment seriously damaged, unusable and

affecting the park aesthetic values (Figure 3).

Therefore, it is necessary for the management to

prepare and set up proper maintenance plan and

schedules to fulfil sustainable concept enhancing

the aesthetic value to users. This is very

important to ensure their quality experiences

were not degraded and they have positive

reactions towards the site when using the park.

There is very little local participation in the

management of Sungai Tekala Recreational

Forest management. Local people were not

involved in the management process such as in

discussing the future direction of park

development. They were also not consulted to

determine recreation activities and choice of

facilities and equipments. Therefore, the

management should be more proactive in finding

ways to increase community involvement in park

planning development and activities. This could

be done through “homestay”, “agro tourism” and

cultural activities. It is recommended that local

community representatives be appointed to allow

them to be involved in the development process

through Recreational Forest Development

Committee. These involvements would increase

their ability to give ideas, opinions, better

cooperation and commitment in conserving

recreational forest in their area. This can lead to

the achievement of landscape sustainability of

recreational forest objectives.

In terms of governance, Sungai Tekala

Recreational Forest has relatively good

governance by the Selangor State Forestry

Department (SFD). SFD has sufficient foresters

who are excellent in forest management.

However, the department lacks expertise in site

selection, planning, management as well as

technical expertise in preparing and

implementing a systematic working plan of

landscape design, construction and management

(Chee, 1986, Mohd Kher, 2012). This lack of

expertise has resulted in deficiency of eco-design

approach for human made landscape elements

such as bridges, shelters, toilets and other

facilities. It is recommended that the

management appoint a qualified landscape

person including landscape technicians

competent in built environment design and

management. At the same time, the management

needs to establish a unit specifically overseeing

recreational forest development. The unit should

consists of forester, landscape architect,

engineer, ecologist and architect.

From the economic aspect, the park

management allowed the participation of local

community where they are allowed to run a

small businesses catering to visitors outside the

park boundary. This has helped locals to

improve their economy by selling fruits, drinks,

handcrafts, and other agriculture produce (e.g.

durians’, petai, mangostane, bananas and

mangoes). Nevertheless, locals are not much

involved in recreation/tourism related

employment (e.g. as park ranger/park controller).

Thus, the management needs to increase

opportunities where local youths can be trained

to work various jobs in the park.

4.2 SUNGAI CHONGKAK

RECREATIONAL FOREST

Sungai Chongkak Recreational Forest is located

in Hulu Langat district (coordinates 03° 12'41"

N, 101° 50'27" E). This area covers

approximately 2,865 hectares of lowland

Dipterocarp Forest types and is part of the

Sungai Lalang Forest Reserve. The Selangor

State Forestry Department developed this park in

1992. Beginning in January 2005, SFD handed

over the management of this site to the Tourism

Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (TSSB). This was done due

to shortage of manpower, increase in costs of

maintenance and insufficient budget. Since

TSSB took over the park, ecotourism concept

with sub-concept of ‘resort’ had been

implemented in 2005. TSSB applied ecotourism

concept with “resort” as sub-concept to

encourage families or other groups to participate

in their recreational activities. TSSB also aimed

to attract foreign tourists by offering

conveniences and providing international

standard accommodation facilities. Thus, the

park has now been turned to tourist destination

and charged entrance fees of MYR1 for adults

but free for children aged 12 and below.

From an ecological perspective, the Sungai

Chongkak Recreational Forest faces threat due to

lack of a comprehensive plan being developed by


the management. Currently, TSSB only applied

the development ad hoc approach where the

development was based on users’ requests. This

approach is unsuitable and has resulted in

environment degradation such as soil erosion,

flora and fauna destruction, and visual quality

reduction (Figure 4).

However, Mustaqim-Alias & Ahmad (2013)

claimed that Sungai Chongkak is clean and

suitable as a recreational stream. Nevertheless, it

is very important to consider soil susceptibility

to erosion and protection of soil and water

resources in forest-based recreation (Maleknia et

al., 2013). In the meantime, a landscape master

plan should be prepared. It should be sensitive

to the environment, manage the recreational

forest to satisfy user needs, highlight

opportunities presently exist on site and the

necessary actions necessary to bring about the

level of recreation sought by the public.

In terms of design, it was found that Sungai

Chongkak applied medium designs (buildings

are not too huge and high) and portrays Malay

architecture (Figure 5). Malay architecture seems

to be more sensitive to local context and

environment, and can be applied to fulfil

ecotourism concept. Construction materials

selected for the park are largely of natural

materials like wood and clay bricks. These are

more in harmony with nature and did not pollute

the natural environment (Zucker et al., 1983).

The color applied to the accommodation

buildings portrays peacefulness and harmony

(Brenda & Robert, 1996) with surrounding

environment which is green and chocolate. It

does also create unity towards the environment

as well as influence users convenience (Arwed,

1992).

To maintain the aesthetic values of the park,

cleanliness, grass cutting, rubbish collection,

sweeping fallen leafs, toilets cleaning, bench

wipes and keeping the chalets tidy are normal

tasks that have been carried out. These efforts

reduce visual interference to the visitors such as

from rubbish mass, dirty walkways, roads

damages, and fallen trees. Furthermore, TSSB

has also done repairing and reconstruction works

for accommodation in ensuring users safety and

convenience as well as increasing their

experiences. Those activities have maintained

and enhance the aesthetic value of the park.

However, from field observation, there are some

elements that need to be repaired. For instance,

floor replacement for wooden bridge, repainting

and repairing works for wooden table and

cleaning the fallen leafs on the roof and wild

grasses on pedestrian walkways (Figure 6).

Figure 4: An ad hoc development approach of Sungai Chongkak Recreational Forest leading to

environment degradation.

Figure 5: Malay architecture applied in structure design in Sungai Chongkak Recreational Forest.


Figure 6: Some elements in Sungai Chongkak needs repairing and reconstruction works and wild grass on

pedestrian walkway need to be clean off.

From economic aspect, the author noticed

that the indirect benefits of the park are shared

with the local community as what Sungai Tekala

management had done. The management

allowed local people to run a small business in

and surrounding the park. This has helped the

local people to increase their socio-economy

through fruits, drinks, recreational essentials and

other agriculture products (e.g. papaya, petai,

tapioca, bananas and pineapple) selling.

However, that activity only benefits small

number of local residents. More effort need to

be carried on to increase the economic benefit of

the local people such as the management should

work with local tourism bodies to configure

recreation facilities to bring most added values to

the local economy and work with local

community groups who wish to develop

facilities, or offer franchises or agreements for

on-site infrastructures development.

In term of local participation, author noticed

that TSSB has taken a good step in involving the

locals into Sungai Chongkak Recreational Forest

landscape management system. There are seven

local people that have being appointed as general

workers. At the same time, several lots of

business space have been established in the park

to give opportunities for them to run business (as

food and souvenirs sellers). This has contributed

to positive economic growth of local peoples

directly or indirectly. However, local

community involvement should be increased by

appointed representatives among them in

management and invited them to attend meetings

related to Sungai Chongkak Recreational Forest

landscape development in the future. TSSB can

also make a memorandum of understanding

(MoU) with local people for homestay and

agrotourism projects surrounding the Sungai

Chongkak Recreational Forest. In fact, local

people who involved in managing natural

resources will be more compliant with the rules

that themselves have built over the rules imposed

on them by force (Wilshusen et al., 2003).

In term of governance, TSSB can be

considered as weak in landscape planning,

design, construction and maintenance. This is

because TSSB does not have any professionals

in those fields, but they have professionals in

tourism activity and marketing. Nevertheless,

TSSB has formed a collaboration activity with

Kajang Municipal Council (MPKJ), SFD and

Indah Water Consortium in construction works.

However, the collaboration exists only when it is

necessary (when a new accommodation/facility

wanted to be build) and not from the beginning

of the development process. These situations

happen because TSSB develop human made

landscape elements according to the necessity

and user’s need. Therefore, to make sure the

collaboration exist in a whole development

process, it is suggested that TSSB form special

work group that includes several experts namely

landscape architect, engineer, architect, forester

and product manager for their recreational

forests sites under supervision.

4.3 TEMPLER RECREATIONAL FOREST

Templer Recreational Forest is located at

coordinate 030 17'60" N 1010 39'25" E. Their

vegetations is a type of Lowland Dipterocarp

Forest. This recreation area is about 853

hectares. The area is bounded by the Ulu

Gombak Forest Reserve in the east, Serendah

Forest Reserve in the north and Kanching Forest

Reserve in the west (Gangadharan, 2005). In

October 1955, the government has allowed

Friends of Templer Park Society to manage the

park and they have been given MYR10,000.00

every year (Nadchatram, 1971). The society

managed the park until January 2002. Starting

February 2002, MPS takes over the management

until today (Gangadharan, 2005). MPS has a

plan to develop the Templer Recreational Forest

as a tourism site based on ecotourism concept


and recreational activity. Currently, MPS has

appointed consultant to prepare overall Templer

Park Landscape Master Plan. This step has been

taken since earlier management did not provide

any development plan including landscape

master plan for the area. The park is free to the

public.

Nowadays, the ecological integrity of

Templer Recreational Forest is being threatened

due to development pressure. Author noticed that

there are construction works in the vicinity of the

park such as housing development (bungalow

and high-end terrace house), road project and

golf courses. These have resulted in

deforestation, losing the rare and endemic forest

tree species such as Hopea subalata and impact

the streams quality in the park due to erosion.

Therefore, a close and thorough monitoring need

to be done by the management to make sure the

ecological stability of the park are not affected

seriously in the future.

During the field observation, it was found

that the designs of some landscape elements are

less in harmony with the surrounding

environment. This is especially true with an

element that has been built by the earlier

management. Those elements have been built on

an ad hoc and in situ basis, without any

suitability and environmental effects study

(Figure 7). It is recommended that the

management replace unsuitable materials used

earlier to a more harmony materials such as

natural stones. Meanwhile, new landscape

elements that has been built by MPS are looking

more eco-friendly and harmony with

surrounding environment such as wakaf and

public toilet (Figure 8). The architecture itself

portrays Malay architecture that enhances local

design with calm and peaceful colors (earth

colors). Materials used for construction which

are more resistant to the climate change were

made from concrete and clay bricks. The used of

wood as construction materials were reduced by

the MPS due to high maintanence. Furthermore,

footing system has been used for flood

protection and erosion especially near the river

bank and steepest area for certain elements.

Figure 7: Materials that have been used by earlier management before MPS take over such as marbles and

zinc are less harmony with surrounding environment and causes visual interference and it did not fulfil the

ecotourism concept.

Figure 8: New landscape elements that have been built by MPS are looking more eco-friendly and harmony

with surrounding environment such as wakaf and public toilet.


Figure 9: Some landscape elements in Templer Recreational Forest are unsafe to users and in bad

conditions due to landscape maintenance system weaknesses, no inspection and lack of budget.

Figure 10: Lacking supports from public to Templer Recreational Forest development could cause site

“abandonment”.

In ensuring the park aesthetic is in good

condition, cleanliness activity has been carried

out every day while repairing and reconstruction

works of structural elements such as toilet,

surau, shelter and others were carried out when

necessary. However, it was found that some of

the landscape elements in the park are in bad

conditions, unsafe to users and affecting the

beauty of the park (Figure 9). This situation

happens because there are some weaknesses in

maintenance system and no inspection tasks have

been taken to inspect the landscape elements

condition regularly as well as budget constraint.

Aesthetic of the park was also being threatened

by unsuitable developments like electric power

line across the park. Unsuitable materials used

such as marbles for park facilities also

contributed to the aesthetic value degradation.

Economically, Templer Recreational Forest

benefited the local residents. MPS has built

specific building for them inside the park to do

business like selling foods, drinks and snacks.

The author believed that in the future, local

people will receive more economic benefits due

to MPS planning to develop the park as one of

their tourism attraction. This effort indirectly

will attract more investors for ecotourism

activities in this recreational forest and attracting

more tourists to visit the park. In the meantime,

MPS did not impose any charge to the user, thus

they are free to use, enjoy and do recreation

activities that they like in the park. These

indirectly will reduce their burden to find a space

for outdoor activities for practicing healthy

lifestyle.

On the aspect of local participation, it was

found that the involvement was very low. MPS

involves them only as food and beverage sellers

at business space provided in the park, similar to

Sungai Chongkak and Sungai Tekala

Recreational Forest. Even though MPS claimed

that voices from the public (especially for those

who had business in the park before) has been

accounted, it did not represents the whole local

community voices. Previously, local

communities via Friends of Templer Park

Society was given a chance in managing the

area, but this permission was taken away

recently. This situation has resulted in the local

community perceiving that their involvement is

no longer needed. At the end, their supports to

Templer Recreational Forest development were

lower and could cause site “abandonment”. This

situation can be seen through the close proximity


to housing and village area, beside the main

roads, but the number of daily and weekend

visits from local people were very low. These

situations portray that local community ignore

the Templer Recreational Forest existence. If this

phenomenon continues, it will give some

difficulties to MPS to fulfil sustainable

development concept because of lower public

involvement.

Looking at the governance aspect, MPS has

a good management structure. MPS has enough

experts like landscape architects, architects,

engineers, planners, technical staffs and

administrators for managing the park. But, MPS

has failed to fully use their staffs in giving full

commitment and focus for Templer Recreational

Forest development. This can be seen where

there is no special groups formed among their

experts in discussing the park development.

Thus, there is a room for improvement especially

in benefitting the internal expects that MPS have.

Thus, it is suggested that MPS form experts’

team among their internal experts to gain

concrete ideas and full commitment for the

recreational forest. Through these expert groups,

planning and development of recreational forest

will be more efficient and effective as well as

reducing consultancy costs.

4.4 ANALYSIS TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE

LANDSCAPE DEVELOPMENT

Table 2 shows the results of analysis towards

sustainable landscape development of the study

sites. Analyses were focusing on landscape

ecology, economy, local participation,

governance, aesthetic and landscape designs

aspects which eventually need to be fulfilled by

respective management for achieving sustainable

landscape development of recreational forest.

Table 2: Analysis towards sustainable landscape development of the study sites

Sustainable

Aspects

Study Sites

Sungai Tekala Templer Sungai Chongkak

Landscape

Ecology

Maintained natural forest

from serious /major

damages

Established nursery plots

for educational purposes

Established demonstration

plots for forest

management educational

purposes

Has clean river and small

waterfall that are suitable

for water activities

Maintained existing

natural topography

Rich with faunas

Prepared overall

landscape master plan

Maintained existing

natural topography

Used eco-friendly

method in controlling

river bank erosion

Has waterfalls that is

in good condition that

portrays natural

environment

Forest vegetations in

virgin condition

Rich with faunas

Preserved natural forest

conditions from major

damages

Has bigger and linear flat

area for activities

Has clean river that is

suitable for water

activities

Forest vegetations in

virgin condition

Maintained existing

natural topography

Rich with faunas

Economy Provided business spaces

for small business

activities such as food and

beverage

Privatized rubbish

collection and cleanliness

activity

Developed the park as

recreational area

Provided business

spaces for small

business activities

such as food and

beverage

Privatized

construction and

reconstruction works

Developed the park

as recreational and

ecotourism area

Provided business spaces

for small business

activities such as food

and beverage

Appointed local peoples

as cleanliness staff

Privatized construction

and reconstruction works

Developed the park as

recreational and

ecotourism area


Local

Participation

Local participation

through business activities

Gets early opinions

from existing retailers

before new business

space will be build

Local participation

through business

activities

Allow existing aborigine

peoples in the park to

continue collect forest

products

Local participation

through business

activities

Governance Park was managed by

Recreational Forest and

State Park Unit, lead by

Forest Officer

Staffs expert in forest

management

Has initiative to have

collaboration with other

experts group via

consultancy

Park was managed by

Park and Recreation

Unit, lead by

Landscape Architect

Staff expert in

environmental design

and landscape

management

Organization has

experts group such as

landscape architect,

architect, planner and

engineer that are

suitable for

recreational forest

development


collaboration with

other experts group

via consultancy

Park was managed by

TSSB Product

Management Unit

Staffs expert in tourism

marketing


collaboration with other

experts group via

consultancy

Aesthetic Maintained forest

virginity for good

panoramic

Keep natural landscape in

good condition such as

waterfall and river

Has undulating

topography

Preserved interesting

undulating

topography including

seven natural

waterfalls

Preserved natural

stone hills for active

recreational activity

Has own historical

value due to it was

opened by British

colonial

Preserved natural forest

from major destruction

Has shallow and linear

river with a clean water

and natural rocks

River stones are nicely

arrange naturally

without human

disturbance

Designs Human made landscape

elements quite harmony

with existing environment

Enhanced Malay

architecture which is the

local design

Color scheme is harmony

with existing

environment

Use local materials such

as clay bricks and timber

Human made

landscape elements

quite harmony with

existing environment

Enhanced Malay

architecture which is

local design

Color scheme is

harmony with

existing environment

Use local materials

such as clay bricks

and timber

Human made landscape

elements quite harmony

with existing

environment

Enhanced Malay

architecture which is

local design

Color scheme is

harmony with existing

environment

Use local materials such

as clay bricks and

timber


Table 2 has shown that SFD compliance is

more on the aspect of ecological planning where

they managed natural forest in the park more

effectively which stressed on informal education

for visitors that can increase awareness among

the public. Furthermore, SFD is an experience

stakeholder in managing forest resources. On

the other hand, MPS complied more on the

aspect of good governance practice since it

encompass enough experts’ group in

implementing/practicing sustainable designs and

has collaboration with other outsource experts

via consultancy. For TSSB, their compliance is

more on increasing local peoples’ economy.

Many local people are being appointed as parts

of management staff and business opportunity

had been given to them.

The above analysis also shown that all

parties of respective recreational sites study need

to improve their planning development, increase

expert collaboration, involve more local people

in management process, improve landscape

maintenance system and programme, improve

landscape designs and control the number of

visitor. Most important thing is that the

management needs to understand that the design

concept of recreational forest should show the

uniqueness of forest, which differentiates urban

and natural design area. The design must put

higher concerns with the natural environment

through the understanding and adoption of the

"sense of place" and "genius loci" of the site

(Mohd Kher & Noorizan, 2006; Stephankova, et.

al., 2012). All responsible parties should also

seriously take into account the social, economic

and environmental aspects of ecotourism activity

that are being adopted on their site. This will

ensure a quality and sustainable recreational

forest landscape.

5. CONCLUSION

The sustainable development approach

implemented for the studies of recreational

forests in Selangor is good as it takes into

account the environment, social and economy. It

also stressed on unity and balance between

socio-economic development and environment

needs to fulfill current requirements without

affecting future needs. At the same time,

introducing recreational forest as ecotourism

destinations is in line with sustainable

development approach where it can educate

publics in understanding and learning about

forest environment, culture, landscape

appreciation, flora and fauna. Ecotourism is

expected to bring a minimal impact on the

environment as it stresses on environmental

conservation and the preservation of the local

community and culture. Ecotourism would also

bring economic benefits to local communities.

However, this study also shows that

recreational forest development in Selangor still

did not implemented sustainable landscape

development and thus need an improvement.

This lack of implementation was due to a

number of reasons including no proper planning,

low understanding of sustainable concept, lack of

staffs and insufficient supervision. If there are

no constructive actions taken to remedy the

situation, then the goal of sustainable

development cannot be achieved. Therefore,

several immediate actions need to be carried out.

These include encouraging staff to attend related

courses and seminars about sustainable

landscape development, increase the staff

numbers especially in landscape and built

environment field and focus on landscape

designs.

This study found that all study areas did not

have landscape development master plan. Most

of the development that has been implemented is

on an ad hoc basis and according to users’

demand. This has resulted in difficulty to create

recreational forest identity and fulfill sustainable

landscape development requirements. Human

made landscape elements were also designed

much like those in urban areas. A comprehensive

master plan for each recreational forest area is

necessary. The plan should focus on creating

identity and more accurate decision-making to

monitor the development process. This is very

important to achieve landscape sustainability for

recreational forests.

Recreational forest landscape development

must be planned before implementation to make

sure natural landscape resources (e.g. forest,

river, hill, waterfall, stones, etc.) continuously be

protected and preserved. It is also to make sure

that human made landscape elements can be in

harmony with existing environment. Thus,

infrastructure must conform to environment-

friendly, low-impact architecture; renewable

including solar energy, waste recycling,

rainwater harvesting, natural cross-ventilation,

no use of asbestos, controlled sewage disposal,

and merging with the surrounding landscape.


The design should enhance local architecture,

use local materials as well as portrays local art

and culture.

Finally, cooperation from all parties and

stakeholders are needed in ensuring sustainable

landscape development of recreational forest in

Selangor towards forest sustainability. All levels

of public including politician, professionals,

supporting groups, local community and

recreational forest users should play their own

role in ensuring landscape sustainability.

Development process of recreational forest

landscape must start from down to top levels

from user level, local community, owner,

political and decision makers. In line with this,

overall recreational forest landscape master plan

is very important to be prepared to make their

development more effective and efficient. It is

also to make sure sustainable landscape

development principles being fulfill by the

management. Once it has become a reality, our

forest will be more sustainable and abandon

situation can being avoided for the benefits of

future generation.

6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This study acknowledged the Selangor Forestry

Department for the information’s provided and

Sg. Chongkak, Sg. Tekala and Templer

Recreational Forest management for the

information provided, as well as allowing author

to carry out study in their parks. Special thanks

also go to Associate Professor Dr. Robert Kabai

for the supervision and Professor LAr. Dr.

Mustafa Kamal Mohd Shariff for editing the

manuscript.

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